Mesrine: Killer Instinct
Directed by Jean-François Richet
- drama
- action
- thriller
- crime
The story
Jacques Mesrine, a loyal son and dedicated soldier, is back home and living with his parents after serving in the Algerian War. Soon he is seduced by the neon glamour of sixties Paris and the easy money it presents. Mentored by Guido, Mesrine turns his back on middle class law-abiding and soon moves swiftly up the criminal ladder.
What it’s like
Gritty, kinetic and stylish, with hard daylight and sodium-lit night streets giving way to cold prison corridors and snowbound Quebec. Richet shoots in handheld bursts that stay close to Vincent Cassel's face, cutting sharply through shootouts and casino floors slick with neon and cigarette haze, while the score pulses with driving rock and synth. The mood is restless, glamorous and bleakly cynical: charm and swagger over a steady undertow of violence. The pace is brisk and episodic, with long stretches of tension punctuated by sudden, brutal gunfire, and the emotional arc follows a charismatic man who trades his family's modest decency for a hunger that keeps escalating. Violence is frequent and real, including shootings, kidnappings and a murder, with some graphic bloodshed, though not gore-heavy. Its sexual content is brief and incidental. It suits a late-night watch for viewers who want crime cinema with flash and grit, and it is not gentle or low-stakes. It is for people who enjoy 1970s-style crime sagas, sharp period detail and a lead performance that carries the film.
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